THE METHOD OF ATTAINING THE SUPREME DESTINATION

Dedicated to my spiritual master His Divine Grace Abhaya Charan Bhaktivedanta Swami 'Srila Prabhupada'

Introduction - Suggestions by the Lord

The Lord suggests that we attain the spiritual world in the following manner (Bg. 15.5):

nirmana-moha jita-sanga-dosa

adhyatma-nitya vinivrtta-kamah

dvandvair vimuktah sukha-duhkha-samjnair

gacchanty amudhah padam avyayam tat

That padam avyayam, or eternal kingdom, can be reached by one who is nirmana-moha. What does this mean? We are after designations. Someone wants to become "sir," someone wants to become "lord," someone wants to become the president or a rich man or a king or something else. As long as we are attached to these designations, we are attached to the body, because designations belong to the body. But we are not these bodies, and realizing this is the first stage in spiritual realization.

Easy approach to the Supreme Abode

We are associated with the three modes of material nature, but we must become detached through devotional service to the Lord. If we are not attached to devotional service to the Lord, then we cannot become detached from the modes of material nature. Designations and attachments are due to our lust and desire, our wanting to lord it over the material nature. As long as we do not give up this propensity of lording it over material nature, there is no possibility of returning to the kingdom of the Supreme, the sanatana-dhama. That eternal kingdom, which is never destroyed, can be approached by one who is not bewildered by the attractions of false material enjoyments, who is situated in the service of the Supreme Lord. One so situated can easily approach that supreme abode.

Avyakta - The Unmanifested

Elsewhere in the Gita (8.21) it is stated:

avyakto 'ksara ity uktas

tam ahuh paramam gatim

yam prapya na nivartante

tad dhama paramam mama

Avyakta means unmanifested. Not even all of the material world is manifested before us. Our senses are so imperfect that we cannot even see all of the stars within this material universe. In Vedic literature we can receive much information about all the planets, and we can believe it or not believe it. All of the important planets are described in Vedic literatures, especially Srimad-Bhagavatam, and the spiritual world, which is beyond this material sky, is described as avyakta, unmanifested. One should desire and hanker after that supreme kingdom, for when one attains that kingdom, he does not have to return to this material world.

Our state at the end of our life - Its effect

Next, one may raise the question of how one goes about approaching that abode of the Supreme Lord. Information of this is given in the Eighth Chapter. It is said there:

anta-kale ca mam eva

smaran muktva kalevaram

yah prayati sa mad-bhavam

yati nasty atra samsayah

"And whoever, at the end of his life, quits his body, remembering Me, attains immediately to My nature; and there is no doubt of this." [Bg. 8.5] One who thinks of Krsna at the time of his death goes to Krsna. One must remember the form of Krsna; if he quits his body thinking of this form, he surely approaches the spiritual kingdom. Mad-bhavam refers to the supreme nature of the Supreme Being. The Supreme Being is sac-cid-ananda-vigraha [Bs. 5.1] -- that is, His form is eternal, full of knowledge and bliss. Our present body is not sac-cid-ananda. It is asat, not sat. It is not eternal; it is perishable. It is not cit, full of knowledge, but it is full of ignorance. We have no knowledge of the spiritual kingdom, nor do we even have perfect knowledge of this material world, where there are so many things unknown to us. The body is also nirananda; instead of being full of bliss it is full of misery. All of the miseries we experience in the material world arise from the body, but one who leaves this body thinking of Lord Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, at once attains a sac-cid-ananda body.

Conclusion - The Last Word

The process of quitting this body and getting another body in the material world is also organized. A man dies after it has been decided what form of body he will have in the next life. Higher authorities, not the living entity himself, make this decision. According to our activities in this life, we either rise or sink. This life is a preparation for the next life. If we can prepare, therefore, in this life to get promotion to the kingdom of God, then surely, after quitting this material body, we will attain a spiritual body just like the Lord's.

Ref - Teachings of Srila Prabhupada
Prabhupada Dasa
RadhaKrishna Sevak
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Jagadguru Srila Prabhupada - The Real Soul Doctor

 

Please Chant 'Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare; Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare' & Be Happy.

KINGDOM OF GOD

Dedicated to my spiritual master His Divine Grace Abhaya Charan Bhaktivedanta Swami 'Srila Prabhupada'

What is the nature of the kingdom of God? It is described in the Bhagavad-gitä (15.6) as follows: "That abode of Mine is not illumined by the sun or moon, nor by electricity. One who reaches it never returns to this material world."

Although every place in the creation is within the kingdom of God because the Lord is the supreme proprietor of all planets, there is still the Lord's personal abode, which is completely different from the universe in which we are now living. And this abode is called paramam, or the supreme abode. Even on this earth there are countries where the standard of living is high and countries where the standard of living is low. Besides this earth, there are innumerable other planets distributed all over the universe, and some are considered superior places and some inferior places. In any case, all planets within the jurisdiction of the external energy, material nature, require the rays of a sun or the light of fire for their existence, because the material universe is a region of darkness. Beyond this region, however, is a spiritual realm, which is described as functioning under the superior nature of God. That realm is described in the Upanishads thus: "There is no need of sun, moon, or stars, nor is that abode illumined by electricity or any form of fire. All these material universes are illumined by a reflection of that spiritual light, and because that superior nature is always self-luminous, we can experience a glow of light even in the densest darkness of night."

In the Hari-vamsa the spiritual nature is explained by the Supreme Lord Himself as follows: "The glaring effulgence of the impersonal Brahman [the impersonal Absolute] illuminates all existences, both material and spiritual. But, O Bhärata, you must understand that this Brahman illumination is the effulgence of My body." In the Brahma-samhitä this conclusion is also confirmed. We should not think that we can attain that abode by any material means such as spaceships, but we should know for certain that one who can attain that spiritual abode of Krishna can enjoy eternal, spiritual bliss without interruption

-from Science of Self realization by Srila Prabhupada
- also read 'BG- As it is' 15.6 

Jagadguru Srila Prabhupada - The Real Soul Doctor

Prabhupada Dasa
RadhaKrishna Sevak

www.folknet.in
www.twitter.com/drjgdsh